[Akai Shizuku]

Originally Posted by drallig9399

In Bleach the main character is a Soul Reaper or Shinigami. He essentially fights demons. The swords are called soul slayers or Zanpakuto and are essentially living embodiments of their powers, key word being living. Each Zanpakuto has different levels of connection/release with their Soul Reaper partner. The first is unreleased or sealed, it will look like a normal katana. The second is shikai and will look original when compared to other other Zanpakuto. The third is the most powerful release as it is the expression of true harmony with or control over the spirit of the Zanpakuto, this is called Bankai. Generally only Captains have Bankai, however there are a few characters not of that rank that have reached the level. Such as Ichigo's Bankai with Zangetsu that begets Tensa Zangetsu.

Sidenote... To learn more about Bleach you could go to wikipedia as their info is very accurate however I doubt you would understand it. Go to youtube and check out the series, its my fave anime that has yet to have its ending written.

I would like to add that with most Bankai, the Zanpakuto's soul will appear as a mythical creature or some sort of warrior. With Renji's it is (if I am not mistaken) a white baboon with a snake for a tail. Zangetsu actually looks like a thirtysomething man with a black trench coat, quite a bit of hair, and sunglasses. In Bankai form Zangetsu is a black odachi with the manji (a kanji character for "full", though in the West it is sadly only known as the Nazi symbol) for a tsuba (guard).